Communication game systems are known in which game devices operated by individual players are connected via a network such that a competitive game can be executed among players in remote locations.
This type of communication game system is constructed such that when a request to compete is placed to one game device from another game device, the requested game device manages a transaction to accept a competition with the game device which placed the request. Thus a competitive game can be played between the two game devices while transceiving commands and game data. By means of this type of communication game system, a player can enjoy a game competition with another player in a remote location.
In communication game systems up to the present, however, when a competitive game in which a plurality of players form a team and compete against an opposing team in a multiple player against multiple player format (to be referred to below as a “team competition” or a “multiple player against multiple player competition”), many points relating to game image display, judgment of the relative strength of the teams, and game data communication require improvement.
Firstly, in relation to game image display, the following points for improvement have been specified. In a shooting game (a game in which bullets or light beams are fired to topple an opponent), the “light beam bullets” emitted from the object manipulated by the player, or in other words the character, toward an opponent character are accompanied on the ground surface by a projected image object (for example an artificial shadow) to provide a sense of realism.
In this specification, according to a world coordinate system which can be used to conveniently define a virtual space, the character is assumed to “stand” on an XZ plane, and a virtual “ground surface” is defined as running irregularly along the XZ plane. Hence the forward direction in the Y axis direction is defined as the “up” direction, and the Y axis coordinate is defined as “height”.
More specifically, a virtual point light source is set directly below the light beam bullet, and the light from the point light source is projected onto the ground surface as a shadow, thereby emulating the shadow of the light beam bullet. In this case, the magnitude of the shadow projected onto the ground surface is processed to become smaller in relation to the height of the light beam bullet.
However, when the light beam bullet is far above the ground surface, the shadow of the light beam bullet becomes extremely small, causing a problem in that the player is substantially unable to recognize the shadow on the displayed screen.
Further, the viewpoint in the virtual space which defines the game image displayed on each display device is fixed diagonally rearward from above the head of the object manipulated by the player, or in other words the character. Hence the viewpoint position is constantly fixed until the player manually alters the viewpoint position. This causes a problem in that when there are a large number of displayed images, some of the images move out of the field of vision and are not displayed. Conversely, when the viewpoint is set in advance far away from the displayed objects in order to avoid this problem, the individual objects are displayed in small size on the display screen, leading to a reduction in the sense of realism. Displaying a split screen on which the positions of the display images that have moved out of the field of view are displayed has been considered, but the calculation processing load required to display a split screen is high, and since the player must pay attention to two or more screens, s/he may become confused and lose the ability to concentrate on the game. A method of moving the viewpoint in accordance with the movements of the character manipulated by the player has also been considered, but in this method the field of vision for displaying images only responds to the movements of this character, and thus the display objects that the player wishes to see may not be displayed, meaning that the player must search for the objects to be seen separately.
A problem has also been specified regarding the display of objects displayed as a part of the background. For example, in order to make a structure in a sea set inside a virtual space (a building post, the bottom surface of a ship, or the like) appear to be actually submerged, a texture for illustrating seawater is synthesized with the texture of the structure. In this case, color calculation processing for synthesizing the textures is performed by means of calculations such as addition and multiplication of the color components of the pixels constituting both textures. In this type of method, however, the calculation processing amount for making the entirety of an object which occupies a large area of a screen, such as the sea surface, semi-transparent is large, which sometimes causes a deterioration in the overall processing performance of the game device.
Secondly, regarding judgments of the relative strength of the teams, the following problems have been specified. First, in game devices up to the present, information indicating the remaining fighting strength (for example physical strength) in the game of a player's own character has been displayed using meter information or the like displayed on the game screen, but no function exists for judging or displaying the relative strength of each team for the team as a whole. On the game screen of each player, the physical strength of the player's own character, another character, or all of the characters is displayed individually, but display of the remaining fighting strength of the team as a whole is not provided. Hence there is a need for each player to be able to ascertain this information by means of a fixed operation.
When playing a team competition, games have been designed to conclude when the number of remaining characters on one of the teams reaches zero. According to this method, however, the player must always keep track of the state of the remaining characters, which is troublesome. Moreover, calculation processing is required for displaying the number of remaining characters on one team on the game device of the other team at all times, causing a reduction in the overall processing performance.
Further, when playing a team competition, the team having the most members is of course advantaged, but in game systems up to the present, participation in the game is closed even when there is a disparity in the number of players constituting a team, and thus games are often begun under unequal conditions. If the game is continued under such unbalanced conditions, one team alone becomes superior, and since competition cannot be conducted under equal conditions, the desire of the players to play the game wanes and the sense of tension decreases.
When one of the characters forming a team falls during a competition, that team has one less member than the opposing team, leading to a disparity in the team numbers. Conventionally, the game continues even in this situation, and hence the player who was manipulating the fallen character can only wait for the game to end without being able to do anything. Moreover, the other players belonging to the team of the fallen character must continue the game with a diminished number of characters.
Thirdly, problems have been specified in relation to delays in processing the data required for game processing. More specifically, up to the present, when an occurrence (to be referred to as an “event” hereinafter) occurs on one of the game devices such as a light beam bullet being fired, the game device on which the event occurred performs game processing in accordance with the event, and when the processing is complete (when an opponent is toppled by the light beam bullet, for example), the result of the processing is transmitted to the opposing game devices via a network. When data are transceived through a network, however, time delays are inevitable, and hence the reception side game device receives the data at a time delay. Since the game progresses synchronously on the transmission side and reception side game devices, such data delays may cause images to be displayed “out-of-sync”. When an event occurs in which a light beam bullet is fired, for example, the processing up to the point at which the light beam bullet strikes the opponent is performed on the transmission side game device, and then data indicating that the opponent has been shot are transmitted as the processing result. If the opponent to be processed as being shot moves during transmission of the processing result, the light beam bullet is displayed as a direct hit on the opponent even though the light beam bullet does not strike the opponent directly once the opponent has moved. Hence an image indicating that the opponent has been processed as being shot by a light beam bullet that could not have been a direct hit is mistakenly displayed. Since this is not due to a lack of gaming skill on the part of the player manipulating the opponent, the player feels unfairly disadvantaged by an internal fault in the game device or game program (a communication delay, strike judgment setting defect, or similar), and may lose further interest in the game.
Considering these numerous problems, a first object of the present invention is to provide a game device for eliminating problems relating to game image display that have been specified on conventional game devices.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a communication game system for eliminating problems relating to judgments of the relative strength of teams that have been specified on conventional communication game systems.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a communication game system for eliminating problems caused by game data communication delays that have been specified on conventional communication game systems.
In order to achieve the first object, the present invention is a game device constituted to be capable of displaying a spatial object positioned at a remove from a terrain surface set within a virtual space, comprising a projected image generating module for generating a projected image object emulating a projected image of the spatial object on the terrain surface, and a projected image modifying module for moving the projected image object in accordance with the movement of the spatial object, modifying the magnitude of the displayed projected image object in accordance with the position of the spatial object within the virtual space and the position of a virtual light source set within the virtual space, and holding the magnitude of the projected image object at a predetermined magnitude when the distance of the spatial object from the terrain surface exceeds a reference distance.
In the present invention “module” indicates a unit comprising a predetermined function which is executed by a software program and hardware in conjunction.
Here, “virtual space” indicates a space defined by a logically set coordinate system for performing CG processing.
Here, “spatial object” generally refers to an object which floats within the virtual space, and in the case of a shooting game may refer to a fired light beam bullet. The spatial object may also be a character manipulated by a player. The spatial object may also be a flying body which accompanies the aforementioned virtual light source.
Here, for example, the aforementioned game is a shooting game, and the spatial object is a light beam bullet fired from a weapon of a character who appears in the shooting game.
Here, “character” is an object within the virtual space which can be modified by an operation of a player operating a game device or by the game device itself, and is the main participant in the competitive game. A character includes a home character which can be manipulated by a player, and enemy characters which are manipulated by game devices operated by other competing players.
The present invention is also a game device constituted to enable players to play a game by manipulating a home character within a virtual space, comprising an image generating module for generating a game image projected onto a two-dimensional plane which incorporates into a field of vision the front of the home character from a viewpoint behind the home character, and a viewpoint position controlling module for moving the viewpoint position within the space behind the home character in accordance with the position or movement within the virtual space of characters to be incorporated into the field of vision.
Here, “behind” and “front” refer to directions relating to the home character within the virtual space, which have been determined for the sake of convenience. In the case of a character emulating a human being or robot, these directions correspond to what is generally known as a front-rear relationship.
Here, when the viewpoint position controlling module, for example, moves the viewpoint position within the space behind the home character, the viewpoint position is moved within a range at which the distance between the viewpoint and home character remains within a predetermined distance.
Further, when a character to be incorporated into the field of vision moves out of the field of vision, the viewpoint position controlling module moves the viewpoint at a predetermined speed to incorporate into the field of vision the character to be incorporated into the field of vision.
The present invention is a game device constituted to enable players to play a game by manipulating a home character within a virtual space, comprising an image generating module for generating a game image projected onto a two-dimensional plane which incorporates into a field of vision the front of the home character from a viewpoint behind the home character, and a viewpoint position controlling module for moving the viewpoint position within the space behind the home character in accordance with the position or movement within the virtual space of characters to be incorporated into the field of vision, wherein the game is a game in which a plurality of characters move within a virtual space, and the viewpoint position controlling module controls the viewpoint position in accordance with the position or movement of the home character and the other characters.
Here, the viewpoint position controlling module may move the viewpoint position within a range at which the distance between the viewpoint and the home character remains within a predetermined distance range, such that the number of other characters displayed on the game image is maximized.
Further, the present invention is a game device constituted to enable players to play a game in a virtual space, comprising a specifying module for specifying a plurality of display objects having at least a partially overlapping relationship within the virtual space, a comparing module for comparing the surface area of each of the plurality of specified display objects when the display objects are displayed as a game image, a semi-transparentizing processing module for making the display object with the smaller surface area according to the comparison semi-transparent, and an image generating module for generating a game image by disposing the semi-transparentized display object to the front when seen from the line of vision of the game image.
Here, the “display object” may be an object forming a part of the background or a character.
In order to achieve the second object, the present invention is a communication game system in which a plurality of game devices are connected to each other to enable a competitive team game to be played in which at least two players operating the game devices form one team, comprising a relative strength judging module for judging the relative strength of the teams playing the competitive game on the basis of the total fighting ability within a team, and an image generating module for generating an image displaying the results of the judgment.
Here, the relative strength judging module determines the relative strength of the teams by calculating the proportion of a maximum fighting ability value of the characters manipulated by the players in the competitive game that is occupied by a current fighting ability value, and totaling this proportion for each team.
Further, the present invention is a communication game system in which a plurality of game devices are connected to each other to enable a competitive team game to be played in which at least two players operating the game devices form one team, comprising an activity judging module for determining the relative strength of the teams playing the competitive game according to whether or not a leader character designated as the leader of each team is active during the competitive game, and a relative strength judging module which, when the leader character is judged to be active, judges the team to which the leader character belongs to be the winner.
Here, “active” refers to a case in which a character survives (or in other words is “alive”) without being eliminated, for example.
Further, the competitive game may be constituted such that a stage in which an outcome is determined can be executed a plurality of times during each competitive game, and may comprise a leader switching module for automatically switching the character designated as leader at each stage, and a game executing module for executing each stage of the game under the leader character switched by the leader switching module.
Here, the leader switching module may be constituted to automatically reselect the leader character with the best results throughout the previous stages in each stage.
The leader switching module may also be constituted to automatically reselect the leader character with the best results throughout the previous stages in the final stage.
The activity of the leader character may be determined with reference to the fact that the leader character has remaining physical strength.
A competition time of the game may be determined in advance such that if the leader characters of both teams are active when the competition time has elapsed, the team whose leader character has the most remaining physical strength is judged the winner.
Alternatively, a competition time of the game may be determined in advance such that if the leader characters of both teams are active when the competition time has elapsed, the remaining physical strength of the characters belonging to each team is totaled and the team with the greatest total physical strength is judged the winner.
The present invention is a communication game system in which a plurality of game devices are connected to each other to enable a competitive team game to be played in which at least two players operating the game devices form one team, comprising an activity judging module for determining the relative strength of the teams playing the competitive game according to whether or not a leader character designated as the leader of each team is active during the competitive game, and a physical strength distributing module which, when the physical strength of a character other than the leader character within a team decreases, distributes the physical strength of the leader character to the character with reduced physical strength.
Further, the present invention is a communication game system in which a plurality of game devices are connected to each other to enable a competitive team game to be played in which at least two players operating the game devices form one team, wherein each of the plurality of game devices comprises a condition considering module for considering predetermined conditions corresponding to the balance of fighting strength between the teams playing the competitive game, and a fighting strength balance adjusting module for adjusting the balance of fighting strength between the teams in accordance with the conditions.
Here, the fighting strength balance adjusting module may match the number of characters in each team participating in the competitive game at the start of the competitive game.
The fighting strength balance adjusting module may also place weighting conditions on the team having an advantage of a predetermined standard or higher in accordance with an imbalance arising between the teams during the course of the competitive game.
Here, “weighting conditions” includes prohibiting an attack by a character for a fixed time period or prohibiting modification of the orientation of the character.
The fighting strength balance adjusting module may also place the weighting conditions in accordance with one or more conditions (corresponding to the aforementioned predetermined conditions) selected from a group of conditions indicating an imbalance between the teams, this group comprising the number of characters on each team, the set ability of each character in the game, the competition-winning percentage of each character, and the competition-winning percentage of each team.
The fighting strength balance adjusting module may also be constituted to perform processing according to which one character helps another character within a team during the course of the competitive game.
Here, each game device may comprise a tracking object setting module for setting as a tracking object one character from among the characters comprising an opposing team on the basis of predetermined conditions, and a tracking module for modifying the position or orientation of the home character manipulated by the player until the home character enters a range within which the character set as the tracking object can be attacked.
Here, the tracking module may further comprise a correcting module for correcting the position or orientation of the home character in accordance with the movement of the character set as a tracking object such that the home character enters the range within which the character can be attacked.
In this case, one or more conditions selected from a group comprising the absolute physical strength value of the opponent, the relative physical strength value of the opponent to the home character, attacking strength, defense strength, the presence of a set leader, and the winning percentage of the player manipulating the character may be used as the “predetermined conditions”.
In order to achieve the third object, the present invention is a communication game system in which a plurality of game devices are connected to each other to enable a competitive team game to be played by a plurality of players operating the game devices, wherein the game devices respectively comprise an event transmitting module which, when a predetermined event occurs, transmits data indicating that this event has occurred to the other game devices implementing the competitive game, a data receiving module for receiving data from one of the other game devices implementing the competitive game, a processing result transmission module for executing game processing based on the received data and transmitting data indicating the result of this processing to the other game devices implementing the competitive game, and a game image generating module for generating a game image based on the processing result.
Here, when three or more game devices are connected to each other, the game image generating module is constituted such that the data indicating a processing result, which are transmitted from the game devices in response to an event occurring in another game device, are received by all of the other game devices implementing the competitive game, whereupon a game image based on the plurality of received processing results is generated.
The data indicating that an event has occurred in each of the game devices may include at least information specifying the game device which caused the event and information indicating the content of the event.
When the data indicating that an event has occurred are received in each of the game devices, a game image corresponding to the game device which caused the event and the content of the event may be generated, and the data indicating a processing result may include at least information specifying the game device which caused the event, the content of the event, and the result of processing in the game devices corresponding to the event.
Here, the present invention is wherein an attack perpetrated by one character is transmitted as the event from a transmission side game device to a reception side game device, a direct hit judgment is performed by the reception side game device to determine whether or not the attack hit the character specified as the attack subject, whereupon the result of this direct hit judgment is transmitted back to the transmission side game device as a processing result, and when the processing results of the other game devices participating in the competitive game are all gathered in the transmission side game device, game processing based on the processing results is performed in the transmission side game device.
In each of the inventions described above, the game is a shooting game in which characters manipulated by players shoot each other to compete for victory, for example.
The present invention is a machine readable recording medium recorded with a program for causing a computer to execute a game method for implementing each of the inventions described above.
Here, “recording medium” refers to a so-called medium such as a CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-R/W, DVE, MD, DAT, FD, or HD for storing digital data. In cases where program data are received by means of communication through a network, the network through which the program data pass is itself included in the definition of “recording medium”.